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Faculty Compensation and Benefits Trends Worldwide
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Faculty Compensation and Benefits
Trends Worldwide
Trends Worldwide Compensation Theory and Practice Mission and Culture Benefits Options Salary Systems Compensation Levels Funding Methods
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
FACULTY COMPENSATION
New for profit schools are seeking the best and paying “top dollar”
Fewer qualified candidates in the marketplace
Higher starting, mid career and senior level salaries
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
Trends Worldwide
Schools are competing against one another for capable young teachers
The most mobile group are those with 3-5 years of experience, and who are ready to move where the money and working conditions are the most competitive
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
Trends: Aggressive Recruitment
Teachers are not risk takers. They are care givers
Teachers want absolute predictability of future earning power, thus “scales” appeal to them.
Teachers also want to know HOW to influence future earning power.
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
Compensation Theory
Teachers have learned how to influence future earning power through:
more steps due to more years of service advanced degrees and graduate credits extracurricular, coaching activities stipends, positions of responsibility titles or administrative positions extra course load
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
Compensation Practice I
Teachers care most about comparing themselves to what other high end area private and/or public schools are paying
If teachers are paid “enough” in their minds, they do not care greatly about the “salary delivery system”
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
Comparisons
If teachers do not feel well paid, they care very much about the equity of distribution and usually want a scale.
Most independent schools either have a scale similar to a public school model that has been gerrymandered over time; OR
A discretionary model fraught with “deals” and exceptions and a long “tail”
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
Comparisons II
1.The philosophy of compensation often overlooked: KEY- should be mission driven
2. Salary delivery system follows from philosophy, often overlooked
3. Cash levels: usually a percentage increase
4. Benefits: Providing flexibility based on age, experience and family status.
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
The Four Elements of a Salary and Benefits System
Administration and boards must focus not just on the amount of money paid but if the delivery system will attract, retain and rewards teachers who resonate with the school’s mission
Administration must review HOW the money is paid out, not just in percentage or in dollar terms, but how each group of teachers benefits overall relative to the others
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
The Correct Approach: Mission Driven Compensation
The “intellectual dialogue” of teachers, trustees and administrators about the relationship between school mission and salary philosophy is key
Littleford & Associates can facilitate this dialogue
The Importance of Dialogue and Engagement
Independent school faculties are assumed to be collegial and collaborative. Most school cultures are not.
Schools often have “feudal” and/or passive/aggressive cultures.
These may develop along department or other lines.
Most evaluation/appraisal and “creative” salary systems do not function well in practice.
Myths Vs Realities
Salary systems, if mission driven, strive to nurture, support, enhance and reward the desired culture.
If salary systems are mission driven, teachers are reaching for the school’s goals together.
The Importance of Culture
Teachers will leave after 3-5 years if salaries/benefits are too low, responsibilities are not increased and if the school culture and climate are unhealthy
It takes only 5 out of 60 teachers to create an unhealthy climate
The Importance of Culture II
The strongest salary systems pay two and one half times at the top what they pay at the bottom i.e., a starting salary of $40,000 should deliver a high salary of AT LEAST $80,000 (excluding administrators)
Schools need to have a bump in mean salary from one, five year experience “cohort”, to the next
Schools may overlook the fact that their more experienced teachers may actually be going DOWN in mean salaries from one cohort to the next
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
Salary Compression
Most independent schools recruit young teachers and lose the talented ones within 3-5 years
Mid career teachers are the most difficult to recruit, and they are often among the least happy in their jobs.
Early buy out plans may be needed to assist some long term teachers with retirement
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
Bottom Bell
Public recognition of service Financial planning or other pro bono
personal services Recruitment bonus (one-time) Effective use of PD money
Inexpensive Creative Benefits
Bonus plans based upon evaluation of teaching performance in the classroom, workload assessment, performance outside of the classroom and leadership traits
Bands and ranges such as instructor, teacher, experienced teacher, senior teacher, and faculty leader or gradations
Compensation Methods
Bands may include permanent jumps in base, plus bonuses
Rewards are not “merit” or competitive but could be performance based when measured against mission: for individuals or teams or groups
Rewarding Excellence through Bands and Ranges
Provide the school with the ability to pay its most valued teachers
Enable teachers to know HOW to influence future earning power
May also reward groups of teachers or teams of teachers
Bands and Ranges II
A common misconception among heads and teachers is that professional growth and teacher accountability are either incompatible objectives or goals that must be accomplished separately.
Teachers’ biggest criticisms about evaluation are that it is either threatening and unfair or lacks substance for real growth.
Evaluating Excellence
Teachers will not fear evaluation if they are involved in the development of the criteria by which they will be evaluated AND if the process is consistent, and honest.
Evaluating Excellence II
Raise tuition Make raising teacher salaries one of the
Annual Fund Goals Profit Centers: Explore them! (Busing, food
service, school stores and Internet courses can make big money!
Launch an endowment campaign
How to Find the Money:Analyze Your “Sacred Cows”
Increase Class Size: Smaller is not necessarily better
Increase School Enrollment Control and be creative with benefits and the
salary delivery system: Resist the urge to add “steps” and beware the slippery slope of stipends
How to Find the Money II
Faculty desire for recognition: range of forms The importance of the head’s “political
capital” Timing is everything!
Consider A Banding Model
The Chinese character, Ji-huey, means opportunity
The challenge to find great teachers is also an opportunity to design salary systems that can attract and retain them
Confidential: Intellectual Property of Littleford & Associates
Conclusion
